Russian general to face in absentia trial over Skovoroda museum strike

A Russian lieutenant general who ordered the missile strike that destroyed the Hryhorii Skovoroda National Literary Memorial Museum will be tried in absentia, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office said. The officer is Oleh Makovetskyi, commander of the Russian 6th Air and Air Defence Forces Army, according to Suspilne Kharkiv.

Investigators determined Makovetskyi knew he was targeting a monument of Ukrainian culture rather than a military site, and issued the combat order to destroy it. Law enforcement traced the transmission of the order through commanders of the aviation division and the fighter aviation wing. Makovetskyi faces charges of violating the laws and customs of war as part of a premeditated conspiracy by a group of individuals. The penalty carries up to 15 years' imprisonment or a life sentence.

The museum in Skovorodynivka, a complex of 18th-century monuments dedicated to the philosopher and poet Hryhorii Savych Skovoroda, was founded in 1972. Its collection holds several thousand exhibits, including Skovoroda's personal belongings, editions of his works, and paintings and sculptures of him. His grave sits near the main building.

A Russian missile struck the roof of the building in May 2022, igniting a fire that engulfed the museum. The 35-year-old son of the museum director, who had stayed overnight to guard the premises, was pulled from the rubble and hospitalized with injuries. Only the philosopher's statue survived the strike.

In 2024, the Security Service of Ukraine identified another figure tied to the attack: Ivan Panchenko, commander of the 159th Fighter Aviation Regiment of the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces, who was notified of charges in absentia. Restorers reconstructed 27 of the museum's exhibits last year. In May 2026, a Russian drone damaged the protective shelter covering the building.

Makovetskyi is from Chuhuiv in Kharkiv Oblast, the city where he was born.